You are wrongest. For some reason the hamburger patties and chicken patty neutralize each other's flavor, denying you any of the enjoyment of eating either of those cheap guilty pleasures on their own.

/STOP McMISCEGENATION NOW

Dont knock until you try. Greasy cheesy of McDouble pairs with spicy and mayo-y McChicken.

/tried a Noahs Ark with a Filet O Fish and McRib on top//it does not work

The best part is you can order one 'Big Mac style', they remove the ketchup and mustard, and add Big Mac sauce and shredded lettuce. You basically pay a little upcharge and get a Big Mac for $1.49, and no middle slice of bread. No, please, no need to worship me.

destardi:I don't like 'conservatives' but I sure as hell don't like smug hipsters.

This article makes sense. It always strikes as cognitive dissonance whether you're a conservative or progressive, that yes, many times your thought processes and opinions are shaped by the garbage news outlets you all suck up on a daily basis...and you don't even realize you're being programmed.

Changed diet/exercise routine over the last couple years. Stopped lifting weights and mostly do functional strength training. Added more cardio. Improved my diet - learned to cook pretty decently, and took the mentality that as long as I eat healthy for breakfast and lunch (and snacks), I can have whatever I want for dinner and drink beer.

The one hard and fast rule is that I cut out fast food and soda. It's the best health decision I've ever made.

In that time (2 years), I've dropped 20 pounds. I also haven't been sick at all; no colds, no flu, and very rarely do I even have an upset stomach. I have more energy and at 34, look and feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

Tommy Moo:There's a whole lot of people in this thread just waving their hands and getting angry and calling the author a troll because they have this vague feeling that he MUST be wrong, but they can't come up with a single reason why.

If the macrobiotic Marxists had their way, of course, there'd be no McDonald's, Walmart or Exxon,

Mickey D's is hardly the only place to get cheap calories...pretty much every grocery store is stuffed to the rafters with products from the heavily-subsidized starch-industrial complex. A poor mom trying to make her EBT card last still gets to choose between crap, crap, and crap.

And no, the solution is NOT to increase the benefits level. That's just another subsidy for the Walmarts and big agriculture, and soon enough the mom is back where she started needing more benefits to buy the same crap she was buying before - plus everybody else also gets to pay more for their food. And their health care.

The only way to win is not to play a game that plays right into the hands of the big businesses that progressives supposedly despise. Blow up the entire food stamp system and start over.

Here in WV, in among the rampant corruption and general stuck-in-the-1930s of state government, the occasional great idea peeks its head out and says "howdy!":

Tommy Moo:There's a whole lot of people in this thread just waving their hands and getting angry and calling the author a troll because they have this vague feeling that he MUST be wrong, but they can't come up with a single reason why.

Really? You typed this sentence, which makes me think you can read, but there's no indication that you've actually done so.

Tommy Moo:There's a whole lot of people in this thread just waving their hands and getting angry and calling the author a troll because they have this vague feeling that he MUST be wrong, but they can't come up with a single reason why.

Because a NY Post film critic built up a liberal strawman and knocked it down with crappy arguments to justify Brietbarting himself in 20 years? Dude never mentioned sodium or fat even once.

As a lefty elitist, this article has opened my eyes. Here I've been hoping that supporting better quality foods and organizations that make them available to lower income families while working to encourage better wages, even if it means that Walmart and McDonalds will only exist on every other street corner was the thing to do. The more sensitive and understanding thing is to just write off the poor as too stupid and lazy to understand the benefits of eating healthy and accept that the best thing for them is to gorge themselves on empty calories until they die of obesity, heart disease, and malnutrition (which occur at very high rates in many low income communities). How inconsiderate of me!

AverageAmericanGuy:If I eat at McDonald's, I will invariably be shiatting liquids later that day.

I'll pass. Thanks.

I don't like McDonalds, and because I like to eat healthy food and cook I don't eat a lot of fast food. That said, I am always wondering if something is terribly wrong with these people who get so incredibly sick after eating fast food. I can eat a cheeseburger and fries and have no ill consequences. Are you allergic to something they are using? Lactose intolerant? Is that really normal?

spidermilk:AverageAmericanGuy: If I eat at McDonald's, I will invariably be shiatting liquids later that day.

I'll pass. Thanks.

I don't like McDonalds, and because I like to eat healthy food and cook I don't eat a lot of fast food. That said, I am always wondering if something is terribly wrong with these people who get so incredibly sick after eating fast food. I can eat a cheeseburger and fries and have no ill consequences. Are you allergic to something they are using? Lactose intolerant? Is that really normal?

Broktun:Maryland allows all food stamp recipients to use them at farmers markets. Plus it is like hitting blackjack. $1.00 of benefits will buy $1.50 worth of produce.

Interesting, I thought that Maryland was a backwards third-world state, I went there once and was horrified. This seems quite progressive and rational, are you certain you meant to type those exact words or did you make an error?

While it's a fascinating tale, there's nothing to it: McDonald's hamburger patties in the U.S. are made with 100% USDA-inspected beef. They are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else; no preservatives - no fillers.

spidermilk:AverageAmericanGuy: If I eat at McDonald's, I will invariably be shiatting liquids later that day.

I'll pass. Thanks.

I don't like McDonalds, and because I like to eat healthy food and cook I don't eat a lot of fast food. That said, I am always wondering if something is terribly wrong with these people who get so incredibly sick after eating fast food. I can eat a cheeseburger and fries and have no ill consequences. Are you allergic to something they are using? Lactose intolerant? Is that really normal?

A lot of it is the milk solids in the food product. Once I found out I was lactose intolerant last year everything fell into place. Carbonara, McD's (BK also), wine and cheese were just the tip of the iceberg. I was surprised at how much milk stuff I was actually consuming. I loved cream sauces and cheese. I drank milk after exercise. Every now and then I'd have a burger at a fast food restaurant. It was always the fast food places that caused the worst effects.

Now that I'm off milk products, my stomach is much better. The other day, though, I went to BK and had a garlic burger* and an hour later I was back on the toilet. Serves me right. I should have known.

Orgasmatron138:In that time (2 years), I've dropped 20 pounds. I also haven't been sick at all; no colds, no flu, and very rarely do I even have an upset stomach. I have more energy and at 34, look and feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

I think that last part is one of the biggest benefits and I wish more people realized it.

He never mentioned ferrets or popular cartoon villains, either. That's because he's only talking about calories. As it says in the article's sub-headline: "In terms of cost-per-calorie, no locavore, organic veggie can compete with the McDouble".

Relatively Obscure:Snopes link above, again, says there is no filler, no flavors and the only sodium added is the salt they put on it to season.

Well, they must apply "seasoning" with a shovel, then, to get to those levels of sodium. And if they're all-natural 100% beef (plus a little feces for good measure), then why do they taste like cardboard? Or have they gotten better in the 2-3 years since I've eaten one?

Zulu_as_Kono:Relatively Obscure: Snopes link above, again, says there is no filler, no flavors and the only sodium added is the salt they put on it to season.

Well, they must apply "seasoning" with a shovel, then, to get to those levels of sodium. And if they're all-natural 100% beef (plus a little feces for good measure), then why do they taste like cardboard? Or have they gotten better in the 2-3 years since I've eaten one?

They're not particularly good, I'm guessing, because of all of the freezing and the fact that they're shoveled out rapid-fire with very little that makes them not extraordinarily generic. I don't find them bad, I just find them very, very meh.

And since you have mostly teens or other uncaring folk seasoning your burgers when they're grilled (I did this as a teenager, myself), I'd say there IS a good chance they aren't paying much attention to how much salt and pepper they're tossing on the patty.

AverageAmericanGuy:spidermilk: AverageAmericanGuy: If I eat at McDonald's, I will invariably be shiatting liquids later that day.

I'll pass. Thanks.

I don't like McDonalds, and because I like to eat healthy food and cook I don't eat a lot of fast food. That said, I am always wondering if something is terribly wrong with these people who get so incredibly sick after eating fast food. I can eat a cheeseburger and fries and have no ill consequences. Are you allergic to something they are using? Lactose intolerant? Is that really normal?

A lot of it is the milk solids in the food product. Once I found out I was lactose intolerant last year everything fell into place. Carbonara, McD's (BK also), wine and cheese were just the tip of the iceberg. I was surprised at how much milk stuff I was actually consuming. I loved cream sauces and cheese. I drank milk after exercise. Every now and then I'd have a burger at a fast food restaurant. It was always the fast food places that caused the worst effects.

Now that I'm off milk products, my stomach is much better. The other day, though, I went to BK and had a garlic burger* and an hour later I was back on the toilet. Serves me right. I should have known.

*http://www.j-cast.com/mono/2013/07/24179648.html

OK that makes a lot of sense then! I think it is fair to say that fast food is high fat, high sodium, and maybe highly processed, but it isn't giving people food poisoning like my friends seem to think.

fredklein:He never mentioned ferrets or popular cartoon villains, either. That's because he's only talking about calories. As it says in the article's sub-headline: "In terms of cost-per-calorie, no locavore, organic veggie can compete with the McDouble".

How's that sugared Crisco diet going for you? I mean, it's all about cost per calorie, right?

fredklein:He never mentioned ferrets or popular cartoon villains, either. That's because he's only talking about calories. As it says in the article's sub-headline: "In terms of cost-per-calorie, no locavore, organic veggie can compete with the McDouble".

He whaps around the 'locavore organic veggies' while completely avoiding some of the big reasons 'locavore organic veggies' avoid Mickey D's: The fats and sodium. Instead he hits on cost-per-calorie and says 'BEHOLD! AFFORDABLE NUTRITION!'